Assembly Hall

NDA sucks :P

This is awesome to see the minutes come out so fast.

This shows me that CCP thinks the CSM is important. I hope this trend continues.

I am really liking the new CCP.

The CSM did a wonderful Job, and credit to CCP too, for the last minutes.

I do love the near instant minutes though, whilst they are not as complete, I look forward each day with great interest.

Ah, choices, Do I want instant Gratification, or detailed reporting?

Both is too much to hope for. Maybe a more detailed version could be a forum thread, dripped in over the next few months?
Nope, that is asking for our CSM to do just too much, they are already doing trojan work!

But maybe when NDA is removed from sections, they could be reported in full?

Thanks all.

There's something fundamentally wrong with analyzing the current player base and I think, basically, we're not a valid or ideal data group. We've proved that we're accepting of bad gameplay. My opinion is that EVE seems to filter most players it encounters, down to those of us who continue to play for reasons other than fun.

For me, I was introduced to EVE just prior to joining the Army and entering flight school... so it was my plan to continue training, but not experience gameplay for what ended up being 3 years. Other players will stay for irl friendships and other reasons that aren't related to the conventional goal of "fun." So studying us for some insight into what might make EVE wildly popular is very off-course.

If you continue catering to players like me, it's pretty much a waste of effort. I think all those players who leave are far more valuable for studying their behavior, with the goal of making EVE wildly popular.

Another reason I am not a good candidate for study is because I am a tinkerer, and I like projects, and taking apart broken electronics to see how they work, and then put them back together. I'm not here because I'm having fun, I'm here because I am obsessed with problems and I want to figure out what is wrong with this broken thing ( EVE ).

There are some basic, conventional expectations that EVE does not meet, and I think they're crucial to the type of recreational experience people expect from a video game. One of them is a gradual ramp-up in training times, and the other one is range of performance in ships.

I think people are accepting of the idea that an item in a video game has a range of performance and can be improved overtime. Two of the worst disconnects between game structure and player expectations of improvement over time are role bonuses and level V requirements of base hull skills of T2 ships.

Role bonuses are a "poof magic" effect that is granted as soon as the item is obtained. This presents a few problems, starting with betraying the player's expectation of gradual improvement with skills ( a concept we can all accept ). "Poof magic" also a big part of the reason for the outcry when I suggest making T2 ships more accessible to players at lower skill levels. When such a big portion of a ship's capability exists automagically, perhaps the naysayers are correct for disagreeing with my proposals of rearranging skill requirements.

Linear progression should appease the naysayers, I would imagine. T2 ships are not linear enough in their improvement, in their current form.

T2 ships also receive a set of bonuses based on the base hull skill, which is required at level V at the same time. In effect, this results in an additional "poof magic" set of bonuses that are applied at full-strength upon obtaining the item. Again, this is a betrayal of a player's expectation that there will be gradual improvement of an item over time. It also contributes to the apprehensiveness of players who attempt to imagine a linear proliferation of T2 ships.

Base hull skill requirements at level V and role bonuses are huge failures in providing linear gameplay.

There is a long-held convention in EVE that "specialization" means that skills should be required up-front. I agree that "specialization" refers to the range of performance in an item, and that it should involve several levels of focused skill training. However, the requirement of level V skills is not justified, in my opinion.

Compared to allowing players to obtain T2 ships and improve them gradually, I struggle to find reasons why they should have their current arrangement. Base ship skills at level V presents a time wall, and a subscription barrier that makes sense from a profit standpoint, but it holds gameplay hostage for financial gain.

The other possibility that disturbs me is that someone holds the basic sentiment that "specialization" should be uncomfortable and painful, because EVE is hardcore. The bad news is, this form of hardcore is not fun, and it drives people away who expect a logical, satisfying gaming experience.

It's impossible to know for sure, because the reasons for the current convention of "specialization" are basically "because specialization."

Ideally, I think, T2 ship progression should allow all level V skills to be grouped at the end of the skill queue, with base hull bonuses available to fly at level I, and role bonuses being unlocked in a linear manner, such as on a per-mastery level basis. This way, the end-goal of a fully-skilled, perfect, specialized ship is possible, with a wider range of performance, and linear progression for players.

This is the idea, more information will come in the form of dev blogs once we're in a position to announce features and work that's moved beyond the design phase and is in production.

Stuff will come in time, we just can't talk about some of it yet.

Many of us have bent EVE to our will, through time, and experience, and wits, but this type of painful, unsatisfying experience is not what popular games are made of. If you tell me the goal is to maintain a cult following, I will give up my hopes of EVE becoming something more.

o/

Generally speaking, I suspect the time to bring up a stack of fresh questions is not after the 3rd day of 4, or during the CSM Summit at all.

(But Areen, didn't you ask about the impersonation clause after day 1? Er, yes. Sorry.)

But to this one, I can't speak for CCP, but I suspect it is not a coincidence that downtime is during the Icelandic working day (with the whole afternoon left to respond to any immediate crises) and as such it seems unlikely it would be at a radically different time...

4th day, summit has ended

m

I am in eve cause its a kick ass ride tbh, i te a game that has captivated me in a way i never thought possible. Considering i am crazy enough apperenlty about it that i am typing this ina icelandic hotellobby aftehr a week of back to back meetings :)

To see eve has a future, a direction and a plan that guides the big thing of things and is in a healthy state to put it out there is one of the thingsi take home with me, others are dedicated and talented people, engaged players and the beatu of eve in its play, grapics, emergent addictive elements and the social community around it

Call me a eve junkie:)